


Lockjaw

by CallMeNettie



Category: Hey Arnold!
Genre: F/M, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:27:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27256429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CallMeNettie/pseuds/CallMeNettie
Summary: This is my written response to an artist's challenge put forth to all Instagram Hey Arnold fans. Since I can't draw to save my soul, I chose to paint my picture with words instead of images. I hope you like it.
Kudos: 2





	Lockjaw

**Author's Note:**

> The Humu-humu-nuku-nuku-a-pua’a is the state fish of Hawaii. It is a small, brightly colored, trigger fish.

Arnold takes his wife’s hand as they walk the short distance to the row of empty lounge chairs that are lined up on the sand, just outside of their beachfront hotel. He picks out two chairs that sit under the protective cover of a tall coconut tree, its large palm fronds providing the perfect amount of cover from the strong Hawaiian sun. They have spent the first two days of their honeymoon locked away in their room, the Do Not Disturb sign prominently hung on the outside door handle, and are only just now ready to greet the outside world.

Helga plops her oversized bag down on one of the chairs and begins to rummage through it. She pulls out a snorkel and mask and looks down at her husband who lays stretched out on the other chair. She crosses her arms in front of her and nods towards his own set of gear. “Care to join me in a bit of snorkeling? I hear that there’s supposed to be a pretty cool coral reef not too far from the shore.”

Exhausted from the exertion of the past two days, Arnold gives a stretch and speaks through a yawn. “To be honest, Helga, I think I’d much rather just stay here for now, and maybe check out the reef a little later.”

She grabs a pair of fins from her bag and gives him a shrug. “Suit yourself, Arnoldo, but I didn’t fly over 4,000 miles just to sit on the beach. I’m going to go check out the reef. I’ll let you know if it’s as awesome as they say.”

She drops a kiss to his forehead and his eyes follow her as she makes her way down to the open sea. He watches her for a while, but before too long the sound of the turquoise water as it laps upon the white sand shoreline lulls him into a peaceful sleep. His mind begins to wander back to the last two days, a small smile playing across his face, when he is suddenly serenaded awake by a flock of noisy sea gulls. Blinking a few times, he wonders just how long he’s been asleep, when he notices that the sun no longer hangs quite as high as before. He looks around for Helga and begins to worry when she is nowhere to be seen.

Getting up, he grabs his snorkeling gear and walks down to the water while casting his gaze out to the horizon. As he scans the water’s surface, his eye catches a dark object that seems to be swimming towards him. He walks forward, and begins to swim once the water is too deep for his feet to touch the sandy bottom. He continues on his mission, the dark object growing ever closer, until he finally finds himself looking into the eyes of a very large sea turtle.

Arnold narrows his eyes as the two hover in front of each other. There is something vaguely familiar about the sea creature, and he begins to wonder. He tests his theory by slowly bringing up one hand, and holding it palm side out towards the turtle. His eyes open in shock when the creature brings up a fin and gently touches it to Arnold’s open palm.

“Lockjaw!” Arnold thinks to himself as tears of happy recognition fall from his eyes, and settle at the bottom of his dive mask. He studies his old friend’s face, a look of joy radiating from Lockjaw’s own eyes at their unexpected reunion. 

Turning, Lockjaw begins to swim away, stopping to look back over his shoulder as if telling Arnold to join him. When he doesn’t, Lockjaw turns back and places himself under his friend before floating upwards until Arnold is laying across his massive shell. Finally getting the message, Arnold grasps Lockjaw’s shell and holds on tight as he rides atop of his friend.

A thrill rushes through Arnold as the two glide through the crystal clear water at a speed that leaves a trail of small bubbles fanning out behind them. The two zig and zag, and rise and fall in an underwater ballet, as they head towards their ultimate destination. 

Before he knows it, Arnold feels his friend slow down as they crawl along the ocean’s grassy bottom, until eventually coming to the top of a small hill. As they crest the grassy mound Arnold’s eyes open wide at what awaits them on the other side. 

Lockjaw goes into a roll, forcing Arnold to let go of his grip, so he is now swimming solo. He hovers in place until he feels a small nudge from his friend. With a nod of his head, he begins swimming towards a coral reef that is alive with color and movement. There is living coral of every color, which provides not only food, but protection for a variety of brightly colored fish. 

The bright colors of the Humuhumunukunukuapua’a pales in relation to the greens and yellows of the larger parrot fish that swim alongside of them. In contrast to these is the ominous moray eel that hides itself in dark holes, waiting patiently for a poor, unfortunate soul to come swimming recklessly by. 

Looking down, Arnold can see colorful pieces of sea glass polished to a bright shine from being constantly tossed about in the ocean’s current. A quick flash of pink catches his eye and he swims down to find a piece of pink sea glass that is in the crude shape of a heart. The pink reminds him of Helga, and he picks up the artifact as a gift for his new wife. 

As he places the piece of glass into an inside pocket of his swim trunks, he remembers the reason he walked down to the water in the first place. He is sad to leave his old friend, but knows that by now Helga must be back on shore, wondering where he could be. So it is with a heavy heart that he turns to his friend to say his good-byes. 

He doesn’t need to speak for Lockjaw to know that the time has come for them to once again part ways. So it is with a deep sadness that he raises his hand as he once did so many years before, and says his farewells. 

He swims back alone, not realizing just how deep he has gone, and he begins to grow light-headed as he gains altitude. Not being familiar with deep sea diving, he makes his ascent too quickly and begins to pass out. He struggles to hold on to consciousness, but it is no use and before he can stop it he blacks out and is left to drift about in the underwater currents.

He floats about in a sea of darkness until his eyes land on a small, pinpoint of light. He can hear his name being called from some faraway place, and he lets it lift him up towards the light. As he rises, the voice becomes louder until it fills his ears with a familiar sound. Once he’s reached the surface, he opens his eyes and throws an arm up to shield them from the bright sunlight. 

A shadowed face stares down at him, and he blinks first once, and then twice, until it finally comes into focus. He looks up in confusion as his wife smirks down at him while shaking her head. “Heh, that must have been some nap, you were in such a deep sleep I didn’t know if I’d be able to wake you or not.”

He gives her a dazed smile in return. “Ha, yeah, I guess I was.”

She nods to his swim trunks. “So it looks like you decided to go for a swim after all.”

Not knowing what she’s talking about, he is surprised when he looks down to find that his swim trunks are soaking wet. “What’s going on?” He thinks to himself. “Surely that HAD to be a dream. Right?”

Something catches Helga’s eye, and he watches her hand as she reaches down and picks something up off of the warm sand and holds it up. “Hey, look at what I found. It’s a piece of pink sea glass, and it looks just like a heart. Isn’t that something?”

He looks from the glass to the calm ocean water. Squinting, he swears that he sees a dark object swimming out to sea. He runs his fingers through his wet hair and gives her a small smile. “Yeah, you’ve said it, that’s really something alright.”

The End


End file.
